Mr Nice Guy
by SkyMaiden
Summary: My first attempt at a Naruto fic. He always put others before himself. No matter what his precious people came first. He was never selfish, for once she just wished that he could be. NarutoInoSakura love triangle.
1. Dreaming about another girl

A/N: Hey all, um this is going to be my first attempt at a Naruto fic. I am completely in love with the anime and manga so I figure what the hell lets give it a shot. So here I am finally ready to give it my best effort. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: Nope I don't own Naruto- sighs-. Kishimoto-sama owns him. I'm just borrowing him for awhile.

* * *

It was another still, quiet, evening as night took over Konoha. A blond haired male sat up in his bed. His back was against the wall, one arm around his knee. He should be asleep he understands that. But for some reason his body won't comprehend it. The wind blows gently he left his window open once again. The cool breeze doesn't help much when the restless party is shirtless. A sigh escapes him; his blond locks falling over his eyes. He moves to the window so he can close it. He turns when he hears a knock at the door. His cerulean blue eyes open in surprise at who it is. 

"Uh…Sakura-chan." He mumbles slightly.

The pink haired medic-nin enters the apartment. She looks to the side for a quick moment avoiding his gaze. All the while he keeps staring at her. He can utter no words as he stares at her in confusion. She suddenly turns to look at him.

"Naruto." She calls his name and runs into his arms.

It was there that they stood in each others embrace. He wanted to freeze this moment in time. He didn't want to let her go. Naruto wished that he could freeze the two of them just like this. He wanted this moment to be burned in his memory.

"Sakura-chan." He whispered.

_(End of Dream)_

_

* * *

_

The blond awoke with a start. It had all been a dream. He could remember the dream vividly. Every now and then he would dream of her. It didn't happen often but that wasn't the point. The point was that the pink haired woman seemed to invade his dreams. Why did he still have to have the dreams? Why was she even there to begin with? He turned to his right to see his sleeping girlfriend. Why did he suddenly see a flash a pink? There was clearly a head full of blond hair on top of her head.

"Naruto-kun what's wrong?" he heard.

Naruto looked into her eyes. She held a curious expression in her light aqua colored orbs. He ran a hand through his spiky blond hair.

"Ha." He laughed nervously. "It's nothing Ino-koi." He added.

She knew that he was lying. He had put on that adorable nervous smile of his. Ino put her hand to his face. A slight blush rose to his cheeks.

"You can quit lying to me." She smiled. "If something's wrong you can tell me."

Somehow he doubted that his girlfriend wanted to know what was wrong. She wouldn't want to know about his latest dream. Why would she even want to hear about his dream about Sakura? If there was anything he knew for sure was no girl wanted to hear that her boyfriend was dreaming about someone else. He had to think of something and he needed to do so fast.

"Uh…oh yea I've got to meet with Tsunade baa-chan today. It's a new mission I think."

He felt bad that he couldn't think of something else other than that. And here he thought that you grew wiser with age. So much for that little theory. Ino was now sitting up. Her long blond hair swayed to the side. Naruto couldn't help but smile. He always thought that she looked beautiful in the mornings.

"Okay I won't push. I'll live it alone….for now." She added with a smile.

The blond male breathed a sigh of relief. He looked to see that the sun was completely up. The streets of Konoha would be pretty busy soon.

"It's morning." Ino nearly jumped up. "I need to get ready I promised that I would be at the flower shop today."

Naruto simply nodded and watched as she went to shower. This sort of thing happened often. She would stay the night with him and leave in the mornings. It wasn't like she was a complete stranger in his apartment. She had stayed many nights in their nearly 2 year relationship. She practically lived with him.

"I don't get why she just doesn't move in already." He whispered.

Almost as if on cue Ino's voice was heard from the bathroom.

"Did you say something Naru-kun?" she asked.

"Um…" He paused. "I didn't say anything." A smile crept up on to his face.

She nodded turning her attention back to her shower. She didn't want to push the issue. She wanted Naruto himself to ask her to move in.

"He's so shy sometimes. I'm usually the one making all the moves. But not this time, its time that he stepped up."

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Ino-chan how long are you going to be? I have to get ready too."

"Naruto you know it does take time to look this beautiful." She laughed. "Or you can just come in and join me."

"Naughty Ino-chan." He spoke with an amused tone.

As a 19 year old male with raging hormones he'd be a fool not to jump at this opportunity. His gorgeous girlfriend was inviting him into the shower. How could he not accept the offer? He decided to take the gentleman's approach in the end.

"Sorry to disappoint you but we'll both be late if I step in there with you. I'll wait for you to finish."

Ino frowned slightly she knew he had done that on purpose. Slowly she smiled.

"That Naruto he always has to be Mr. Nice guy."

* * *

_(With Sakura)_

Meanwhile a pink haired medic-nin had also found herself in a dream world. Sakura was walking through the streets of Konoha. She had no real goal in particular. It seemed that she was walking for hours. She finally stopped finding herself at the training grounds where team seven once trained. The same area where she and Naruto went up against Kakashi.

"A lot of memories here." she thought.

"Oh Sakura-chan." She heard that all too familiar voice.

"Naruto." She whispered and turned around. She met the familiar grin of Naruto Uzumaki. He stood for a moment and then opened his mouth to say something.

"Sakura are you okay?" He asked.

She found herself lost in those beautiful blue eyes of his. He was definitely much more attractive it didn't take a genius to figure that out. His blond hair longer yet still unruly. Those blue eyes that just seemed to shine effortlessly. He was handsome there was no denying that. And even though he was taller, older, and more mature than before; he still managed to stay himself. He was still Naruto underneath it all.

"Hai." She nodded. "I'm…" She was cut off as he put his hand to her cheek.

"You can tell me if something's wrong."

"No really there's nothing wrong." She tried to convince him.

He shook his head because he really didn't believe her.

"Sakura-chan I…" He leaned over capturing her lips in a soft passionate kiss.

_(End of Dream)_

* * *

She awoke suddenly that dream had felt so real to her. She almost felt his lips on top of hers. 

"It was that dream again." She spoke. "It's always that dream."

Sakura sat up in bed. She needed to get ready she had to be at work soon. But she was always a little distracted after that dream. Sometimes she wished that it wasn't a dream. Sometimes she wanted it to be a reality. She of course had to be honest with herself. It wasn't going to happen. She had lost her chance with Naruto. He was with Ino now, a relationship that had been going on for 2 years now. And she knew all to well how loyal the blond was. It wasn't like he would suddenly just leave her.

"We'll I'd better get going and leave those dreams behind." She thought to herself.

* * *

Meanwhile Naruto and Ino were walking side by side. He would often walk her to the flower shop. 

"Naruto-kun do you want to do something tonight?" She asked her boyfriend.

"Hm?" He thought about it. "Hey how about we go to Ichiraku's for dinner."

He seemed extremely excited. But of course he would be about the mere mention of his favorite food on earth.

"You and your ramen." She teased and put her hand to his spiky head.

Naruto just shot her a smile. He shoved his hands into his pockets then looked up to the sky. It really was a beautiful day. He could think of better things to do with his girlfriend today; only he had to see Tsunade and she was supposed to be at the shop. There would be no time for anything fun, at least not now anyway.

"Why are you so quiet?" She wondered.

Ino didn't want to think too much of it. She knew that something was up though. She was actually starting to become worried. He was hardly ever this quiet.

"Ino-chan I'm fine okay there's nothing to worry about."

She didn't believe him and he knew that. The two blonds came in view of the Yamanaka flower shop.

"Okay well we're here. Have a good day Ino-chan." He smiled and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. The blond girl suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed her lips to his. Naruto did nothing to stop this kiss. He remembered her saying something about showing more public affection. He wrapped his arms around her waist deepening their kiss.

Unknowing to the couple a pink haired kunoichi was standing a few feet away. Her eyes opened wide. She hated having to see Ino kiss Naruto. She of course should be used to this sort of thing by now. Only of course that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less.

"I know that I should be happy for them. But it doesn't feel right having to watch this."

A/N: Okay there first chapter done. I tried lol, anyway if people like this then I will most definitely keep writing. R & R plz.


	2. Konoha's Biggest Kept Secret

A/n: Hey everyone I just wanted to thank you all for giving the story a shot. Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who reviewed and even added it to their favorites, that's so cool of you all. Okay without further ado here is the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sama owns Naruto I tried to get him to loan Naruto to me but he just won't give.

* * *

Moments later Ino and Naruto broke away from their kiss. Sakura found that she was unable to move. She knew all too well that she shouldn't be standing here. This wasn't really any of her business. That and it just hurt too much to see them together. 

"Bye Naruto-kun I'll see you later okay." She smiled.

"Right I'll see you later." He nodded.

He waited for her to enter the flower shop before taking off. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of pink. There was only one person with that color of hair.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Oh Ohayo Naruto." She put on a warm smile.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. His mind was now wandering back to his dream. It was funny how seeing her brought it back up again.

"Good morning." Naruto waved. He smiled his trademark smile. Sakura found that she was unable to speak for a moment. Naruto's smile slowly faded. He could sense that there was something wrong.

"Um Sakura-chan is everything okay?"

"Hai." She nodded. "I was just on my way to the hospital."

He wasn't surprised to hear that she was on her way there. She was very dedicated to her job. And he of course felt that she was one of the best medic-nin's around.

"Hey do you want me to walk you?" The blond offered.

"Oh its okay Naruto you don't have to."

"Nah its not a problem. I'm heading to see Tsunade Baa-chan anyway lets go okay."

Sakura could see that there was no stopping him; seeing as how he was already leading the way. Sakura just shrugged her shoulders and followed her blond friend.

"Hey Sakura-chan Ino and I are going out to Ichiraku's tonight. Do you want to come?"

She froze at his words. She knew that Naruto was just being polite, but she knew that she had to decline. There was just no way she could go with them to dinner. For one thing it was a date. She really didn't want to be a third wheel. Also she really didn't like seeing them together as it was. So having to sit through dinner with them didn't seem too appealing. On top of that it would just be too weird for words.

"Um Naruto no offense but I don't think that Ino wants me to crash your date."

Naruto slowly nodded. He knew that Sakura was right.

"Yeah." He laughed nervously. "You're probably right Sakura-chan."

Once they were near the hospital Naruto stopped walking and turned to her.

"Okay well I'd better go see Tsunade Baa-chan before she gets pissed at me. Bye." He waved.

"Bye Naruto." She called out to him.

She never wanted to say it to him yet she wished that he would break up with Ino. No one had been more surprised than she to find out that they were together. Well all of their friends had been equally surprised. But the pink haired woman was damn near flabbergasted. Naruto and Ino were the last people anyone had expected to become a couple.

* * *

**(Flash back 2 years ago)**

Everyone had decided to go out to dinner tonight. No one had seen each other for awhile since they had all been busy with missions. So they were all taking advantage of this free time. The former rookie 9 and Gai's team sat around the table. They were eating and enjoying each others company. Naruto had laughed out loud at something Kiba had said. The two teens had managed to lower their bickering to a minimum. They were of course actually really good friends now.

"Hey Naruto you aren't eating ramen what gives?" Kiba asked.

Now that he had mentioned it, it was weird to see him not eating ramen. Was it somehow snowing in hell? Were they living in some type of alternate reality? Was that even Naruto sitting there? Maybe he had been replaced by some kind of pod person for all they knew.

"Oh no the world as we know it must be coming to an end." Ino teased gently she smiled slightly. Naruto looked across to where Ino was sitting. He gave her a slight nod. Maybe no else had been paying attention yet Sakura couldn't help but notice their behavior. Something was clearly up with them.

"I wonder what's going on with those two. They're acting weird."

"Yeah I just felt like giving something else a try." Naruto answered.

"Yeah I'm sure he'll be back to his normal ramen loving self by tomorrow." Sakura spoke with an amused tone.

"Yep." Everyone else agreed to what the pink haired medic-nin said. Before long a waitress came over to see if anyone needed anything. Another round of drinks seemed to be on everyone's mind.

"Um just make sure that his is non-alcoholic." TenTen said as she placed a hand to Lee's shoulder.

The waitress just raised an eyebrow to the black haired male.

"But TenTen not even on an extremely youthful day such as this, we are celebrating."

"No way Bushy-brow." Naruto said in a finalized tone. "We're just thinking about your well being."

"And our safety." Shikamaru spoke in a low whisper.

Ino nodded agreeing with her lazy teammate. There was no way in hell Lee was getting a drink tonight. They needed to think of not only his safety, but the safety of every single person in that restaurant.

"Yeah Lee listen to your girlfriend." Kiba teased.

Suddenly Lee and TenTen looked up both blushing immediately. It wasn't really a huge secret that they were together. Of course Naruto being the way he was hadn't been paying attention. Naruto finally caught the look on their faces.

"All right!" He jumped up from the table. "Way to go you two."

"Naruto calm down." Sakura told him.

"Huh oh right sorry Sakura-chan."

The blond sat back down only to catch the eye of another waitress. The black haired woman smiled at him. He blinked in confusion. Ino looked to where the waitress was standing. She didn't like how the woman was staring at Naruto. Soon the waitress came over to him.

"Sir is there anything that I can get for you?"

"Huh oh no thanks I'm fine."

"Okay handsome but if you need anything don't hesitate to ask."

"Sure thing." Naruto nodded.

Ino twitched slightly.

"What's up Ino-pig you okay?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, Yeah I'm fine forehead." Ino muttered.

All through the rest of dinner the waitress flirted openly with Naruto. Everyone could see that; as if it weren't obvious enough. Well everyone except for maybe Naruto of course. She refilled his water; she seemed to only smile at him. It was as if everyone else at the table was too much of a bother for her. She even made sure he had an extra plate of sushi. If anyone else had been hungry they would have probably died from starvation.

"Geez desperate much." Kiba whispered to Naruto.

"She's just being nice."

"Um I think she likes you Naruto-kun." Hinata spoke.

Everyone noticed that that she didn't stutter of blush. It seemed that over the years the shy Hyuuga let go of her crush for him. As Hinata said this Ino choked over the noodles that she had been eating. She instantly grabbed her water.

"Ino are you okay?" Chouji wondered.

Naruto looked at her for a moment. He then turned his attention back to his food.

"You guys are crazy she's just being nice that's all."

"Even you have to see that she has devoted an extra amount of attention to you." Neji said in his usual calm tone.

"Yeah Neji is right. I still didn't get my sake and I asked for that over a half hour ago." TenTen added her two cents in to the conversation. "She's crushing on you big time."

Naruto chose to ignore his friends. Although he had to admit they were right about the waitress. She was being extra friendly to him for some reason.

"Sir I hope that you are enjoying the evening." She said to him.

"Oh yeah its great." He gave her a smile. Ino seemed to be watching intently. Her gaze was intense and serious. It was like she could look no where else. Her hand gripped firmly on her chopsticks. It was a surprise that they hadn't broken with a grip that tight. The waitress then put her hand to his shoulder.

"I just wanted you to know that you are the most handsome…."

Before the waitress could continue the blond girl stood up. Her hands pressed firmly on to the table.

"Will you stop flirting with him?" Ino shouted

At this the friends turned to look at her. No once could believe her sudden outburst. Why would she even care about who was flirting with Naruto? The black haired woman narrowed her eyes focusing her gaze on Ino.

"And what business is it of yours if I flirt with him?"

Ino lowered her eyes. She looked pretty pissed right now. If looks could kill that waitress would be 6 feet under by now.

"He has a girlfriend." The blond kunoichi said.

Sakura coughed loudly had she just heard correctly? There was no way she was hearing right. Ino did not just say what she thought she heard.

"What the hell Naruto and you didn't tell us." Kiba hit his friend in the shoulder.

"Yeah." It was the only thing that the pink haired medic Nin could say. She felt that she could say nothing else. How could he not tell her something as important as this? Naruto's cheeks were slightly red as he tried to avoid the gaze of his friends. The black haired waitress simply smiled.

"Well I'm sure that she wouldn't mind. I certainly don't mind sharing." She was about to pull Naruto into a kiss. Moments later she was being pushed aside by the blond kunoichi.

"Oh hell yeah she'll mind." She had her fist raised and clenched.

"Uh Ino-chan…" Naruto said.

"Not now Naruto this bitch needs to understand that you don't belong to her. And that she has no right putting her hands all over you!"

He nodded weakly. Ino was pissed off now and there was no way he was going to make it worse. It was best to just let her get over her anger.

"Ino….you…you and…." Sakura started.

"You and Naruto are together?" TenTen finished for her.

There wasn't a single person at the table who wasn't surprised now. Shikamaru was even out of his lazy stupor. This was news to everyone. No one had expected something like this to happen. Ino and Naruto was certainly Konoha's biggest kept secret, especially since no one had suspected a thing.

"Are you going to back off or do I have to get serious?" Ino asked with her fist still clenched.

The waitress closed her eyes in frustration. She just simply sighed. She didn't get payed enough to deal with angry ass customers like this girl.

"Fine I have some work to do anyway."

"Yeah that's what I thought you would say." Ino waited until she was gone before talking again. She turned to look at Naruto. "Well Naruto-kun I guess we cant hide it anymore can we." She smiled. "Especially with all these women around here thinking they can just have their way with you. You're officially off the market Naruto got it." she told him.

"Hai Ino-chan."

The pink haired girl just sat there in silence. Her two friend's people that she had trusted completely had been secretly in a relationship. She couldn't believe that neither one of them had told her. There were so many feelings going on inside of her.

"I cant believe that they didn't tell me. I cant believe that you especially didn't tell me Naruto." She thought to herself. The silence was broken when Shikamaru spoke.

"Well this was certainly a surprise. I had enough for one day. I'm going home to sleep." He added.

**(End of Flashback)**

**

* * *

**

After that evening Sakura avoided both Ino and Naruto. She also was finding that she was very curious as to how and when this whole thing started. She just couldn't understand it. How in all hell did Naruto and Ino end up together? She spent weeks away from the newly revealed couple. Not that it was weird. Everyone was pretty much busy anyway. Naruto and Ino on their missions, and she was usually busy at the hospital. Sakura didn't know how to explain her feelings. She felt hurt, maybe even a little betrayed even. She felt betrayed that he had kept her in the dark about this. Didn't Naruto trust her enough to tell her this?

And she also wondered if it was a feeling of jealousy. She wasn't completely sure at the time, but she had felt a twinge of jealousy after finding out about them. Maybe it was because she realized she wouldn't be the only special girl in Naruto's life anymore.

"It doesn't matter anymore its been two years and they're still together. I cant come between that."

* * *

(With Naruto) 

Naruto came through Tsunade's office.

"Hi Tsunade Baa-chan." He greeted in his usual manner.

The blond haired Hokage looked up from the scroll that she was reading.

"Brat." She nodded. Even if he was definitely not the same little kid she knew from all those years ago. She still saw him as a little brother. And even with age that wouldn't change. Just like she would always affectionately be referred to as "Baa-chan". He would always be the same Naruto to her.

**"**So what's up you got a new mission for me or what?" He smiled eagerly.

Tsunade closed her eyes in frustration. It was sometimes hard to believe that Naruto was a jounin given his attitude. But his attitude was something that Tsunade would never change. After all Naruto was Naruto.

"You're actually early. Wait here for the others and I will brief you on the mission."

Naruto nodded shoving his hands into his pockets. He stared at the flowers on her desk.

"Ah Baa-chan those flowers are going to die in a few weeks if you don't take better care of them."

"Really." She seemed uninterested. She suddenly looked up with a slight smirk on her face. "Looks like that girlfriend of yours is rubbing off on you."

Naruto blushed slightly.

"I guess so." He left the room abruptly coming back with some water.

"Naruto that's not necessary."

"I know. But you don't want them to just die do you? Ero- Sennin wouldn't like that." He teased.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and then hit him upside the head. He should have known better than to make a comment like that.

**"**Ow Baa-chan that hurt." He groaned in pain.

"Watch it punk."

The blue eyed male nodded as he rubbed his head. He looked up to see Shikamaru, Chouji, and to his surprise Sakura as well.

"Shikamaru, Chouji, Sakura-chan." He spoke.

"Um Naruto what happened to you?"

"Oh this." He knew that they were obviously referring to the latest bump on his head. "Well you know how angry Baa-chan gets."

"Hm." Shikamaru nodded.

"Hmm." The blond Hokage cleared her throat. "Now that you are all here lets get started."

"Um Baa-chan is Sakura-chan coming on this mission too?" He knew the answer but he needed to hear Tsunade say it. He wasn't sure if he could handle being on a mission with her right now; not after his latest dream about her. He knew that he would still be thinking about it. And having her near him certainly wasn't going to help things either.

"Yes." Tsunade nodded. "That wont be a problem for you will it?"

* * *

**A/N: Okay I'm going to end it here. I think I did an okay job let me know what you all thought though. R &R until next time people.**


	3. I wont be her replacement

Silence filled the Hokage's office. Naruto felt that all eyes were on him. Sakura didn't blame Naruto for asking that question. Their relationship hadn't been nearly as close as it was since she found out that he was with Ino. Something just wasn't completely right. It didn't feel natural or relaxed anymore. In some ways it still felt very awkward between them.

"Huh oh of course not." Naruto laughed nervously.

"Good." Tsunade nodded. "You four are going to travel to Suna and help with the restoration efforts. The village is still trying to recover from its previous attack."

"Troublesome but necessary." Shikamaru understood.

"Yeah." Chouji agreed.

"So you want us to help out eh. Come on Baa-chan we're jounin now. How about another really hard mission this time."

"Spoken in true Naruto fashion." She thought. "Naruto do not take this lightly a mission is a mission. Anything can happen you know that."

Naruto became quiet turning slightly. "Okay you're right. So when do we leave."

"In a few hours if possible."

"Okay." Naruto shouted. "I'm going to go get ready. Shikamaru, Chouji, Sakura-chan see you at the gates."

He was out the door already with his teammates coming after him.

"Oi Naruto wait." He heard Shikamaru calling him.

"Yeah what's up?"

"You'd better go tell Ino your leaving. You know how she can be. It could be troublesome you know."

"Yeah." Chouji laughed. "Don't want to go making her mad."

Naruto was used to them teasing him about his relationship with the pretty blond. Even after all this time they would still occasionally pick at him.

"You guys cut it out. But yeah you're right. She could be just as angry as you eh Sakura-chan?" He smiled.

Sakura turned her attention elsewhere. Why did he have to compare her to his girlfriend? Even though he had made a valid point. The two girls were alike in some ways. In truth Sakura had often wondered if that was the reason why he was with her. Was Naruto really with Ino because she reminded him of her? She never said anything about it though. She kept all those feelings inside. Naruto noticed her silence and how she was gripping her fist.

"Oh Sakura-chan I was kidding. Please don't hit me." He backed up.

"Huh? I wasn't going to hit you Naruto. I was just thinking that's all."

The blond breathed a sigh of relief. One hit from Tsunade was enough. He didn't need another hit from Sakura as well.

"Right Okay well I'm off. I'll meet up with you guys later."

"Later." Shikamaru nodded.

Sakura waved goodbye to Shikamaru and Chouji. She watched for awhile until Naruto was gone from sight. She would never forget the day that she asked him about his relationship with Ino.

* * *

_(Flashback, a month after finding out about their relationship)  
_

_Sakura had been searching for her blond haired teammate. She was tired of all the curiosity. She wanted some answers. She found her friend sitting underneath a tree. His hands were behind his head. He looked almost as lazy as Shikamaru then._

"_Naruto?" she called out to him._

_The blue eyed male sat up. He smiled for her. "Hiya Sakura-chan its been awhile. What's up?"_

"_Mind if I sit here?" She asked._

_He shook his head no and moved over so she could sit down._

"_How have you been Naruto?"_

"_Good, Good what about you? Are you okay?_

"_Hai." She nodded._

_There was silence nothing could be heard but the wind. Sakura swallowed her nervousness she decided to speak. It was now or never._

"_Naruto can I ask you a question?"  
_

"_Sure"_

"_I know its not really my business but I really want to know. Naruto how did you and Ino end up together?"_

_Naruto became silent for a moment. He turned to look at her with an almost serious expression. "So you want to know too huh. I guess everyone does."_

_Sakura just nodded. "Well yeah its not like you two were ever close before. I guess everyone just thinks its a little weird."_

"_Yeah." He laughed. "Well I don't know really how it all started. We just started being around each other. You know with missions and stuff. I think that we really started getting to know each other after Asuma-sensei died. I saw a different side to Ino-chan."_

_Sakura froze as he called her Ino-chan._

"_Ino-chan?" She thought._

"_She's tough, fiery, and whether she would show it or not Ino-chan has a really good heart."_

"_You really like her huh?"_

"_Hm? Yeah." He nodded._

"_How long…" She was about to ask another question when someone's voice was heard. _

"_Naruto-kun!" The loud voice that belonged to one Ino Yamanaka._

"_Ino-chan I'm right here you don't have to yell." He stood up._

_The blond kunoichi was now making her way over to her boyfriend. She paused as she saw Sakura sitting there. It wasn't a surprise to see them together. They were teammates after all._

"_Hey forehead." She smiled._

"_Hi Ino-pig." She stuck her tongue out teasing her best friend back as well. Ino then turned her attention to Naruto. A serious look in her eyes. _

"_And where have you been? I was looking all over for you?"_

_He ran his fingers through his hair._

"_Ino-chan I was just taking a break from training."_

"_Right okay." She nodded as she reached for his hand. "We're going to be late."_

"_Late?" He blinked confused._

_Ino sighed she knew that he would forget. "We have a date today remember. Neither one of us has a mission and I don't have to watch the shop. So I want my boyfriend all to myself today." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Sakura flinched watching this._

"_Hai." He nodded. "I'm sorry about forgetting Ino-chan. I didn't mean to forget lets go ok. Bye Sakura."_

_She nodded and watched the blond couple walk away. It was then that it really hit her. He didn't call her Sakura-chan. He didn't add the suffix. It would be the start of a new tradition. In the presence of Ino he would only call her Sakura._

"_He didn't call me Sakura-chan." She whispered._

_(End)_

"It's wrong for me to act this way. I shouldn't be feeling jealous over Naruto and Ino. But I do." She sighed. "I should really be happy for them yet I just cant be."

_

* * *

_

Naruto was in his apartment gathering his things. His mind was wandering on to the mission at hand. It sounded like they could be away for quite some time. That meant that he would be away from Ino for awhile. It also meant being closer to Sakura. He was feeling a little uneasy about that. And if he knew Ino she probably wouldn't be too happy about it either. He remembered the conversation they had in the early days of their relationship.

_(Flashback, a few months into the relationship)  
_

_The blond couple was sitting by the lake. Naruto's head was resting in Ino's lap. The blond kunoichi found that she could sit like this all night. Sure she had never imagined Naruto would be the guy for her. But these past few months hade made her extremely happy. Ino wasn't sure what it was exactly that brought Naruto to her in this way. She wasn't the type that really dwelled on fate or anything like that. No matter what it was she wouldn't want to change anything. Yet there was something bothering her._

"_Naruto?" She spoke._

_A pair of brilliant cerulean blue eyes opened._

"_Hai. Ino-chan what's wrong? Are you cold? He sat up and was about to offer his jacket to her._

"_No I'm fine." She reassured him._

"_Um Ino-chan its getting colder. I don't mean any offense but you aren't exactly dressed warmly." He teased._

_She flinched as he mocked her outfit. It wasn't like he was completely wrong. Her purple outfit was slightly revealing._

"_What's wrong with my clothes huh Naruto-kun?" she asked threw clenched teeth her fist raised._

"_Ah Ino-chan there's nothing wrong with your clothes." He laughed nervously. "I just don't want you to get sick that's all."_

_Ino smiled at his concern. She gently kissed his cheek._

"_I thought that you liked it when I dressed sexy for you. Are you being unappreciative?"_

"_Um." He sat dumbfounded. He then shot her a smile. "I didn't complain. But Ino-chan you're beautiful no matter what."_

_A blush rose to her cheeks. Naruto was really sweet to her. Suddenly a look of seriousness washed over her face. "Okay not that I don't appreciate the flattery and all. We have to talk though."_

"_Um sure. What do we have to talk about?"_

"_Naruto I know that we've decided to make this official. I mean for a long time we didn't know what to call this, us." She finished._

"_Yeah I know." Naruto interrupted. "I didn't know what to call us either. Ino-chan we've been together for months now. I…." He was cut off as she placed her finger to his lips._

"_Let me finish okay. Naruto I like the way we are. This relationship is really good for me. There's something I need to know though. I have to know that you're over her. Do you still have feelings for Sakura?"_

_Naruto blinked curiously and Ino waited for him to speak. Having to ask her boyfriend about her feelings for someone else took a serious hit to her pride. Especially when the girl was her best friend and sometimes rival. Despite the occasional name calling Ino would always consider her a friend. She only had one regret though; and that was letting their friendship fall apart because of some guy. She mentally cursed herself for fawning all over Sasuke Uchiha. It was sad that the two friends fought over someone who clearly had no interest in them._

_Ino was 17 now and she already put that silly school girl crush aside. She was also pretty sure that Sakura had done the same. It had been clear for awhile that the rouge nin was never coming back to Konoha. The friends had made several attempts each one failing. In all honesty Ino felt that her friendship with Sakura had been prepared; after leaving their silly fan girl crushes behind and doing some serious growing up. All the same Ino Yamanaka was no fool. Anyone could see that Sakura and Naruto had gotten closer over the years. Although nothing romantic had happened Ino was sure that there was some feelings there._

_She was curious as to what Sakura felt for him only she had never asked. Now that she and Naruto were official she definitely didn't feel right asking now. No, it would somehow be another hard pill to swallow if she had to ask that question. She also didn't want a repeat of last time. She didn't want their friendship to be strained because of some guy. Although Naruto wasn't just some guy. He was very special to her. Ino was positive that he was special to Sakura too. The silence was killing her._

"_Say something would you Uzumaki." Her patience was wearing thin._

"_Gomen Ino-chan. I just don't know why you suddenly want to bring up Sakura. She has nothing to do with us."_

"_She has a lot to do with us. You've had feelings for her for a long time. Feelings like that just don't die overnight. So tell me right now Uzumaki." She spoke in a somewhat stern tone. "If you want her tell me before we go any further. Because I will not be her replacement I refuse."_

_Naruto could see that she was more than just a little upset. He wasn't sure but it looked like she was on the verge of tears. When he didn't say anything Ino stood angrily._

"_Fine I guess that you made your choice."_

_She walked away from him. She didn't get far Naruto had his hand on her wrist._

"_Ino-chan." He whispered._

"_Naruto let go of me okay."_

_He slowly turned her around wrapping his arms around her waist._

"_Ino if I didn't want to be here with you right now I wouldn't be." His voice was serious. "I like us the way we are. I don't want to change anything."  
_

_She hesitated at first before wrapping her arms around his shoulders._

"_Don't worry about a thing Ino-chan." He said. "I wont hurt you."_

_There was something in his voice that made her want to believe him. she couldn't help these feelings and new thoughts in her head. What if Sakura did want him? what was stopping her from coming in to take Naruto away? And more importantly would he accept. She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt Naruto touch her chin. The blond male leaned down kissing her lips. They stood like that for awhile before breaking away._

"_Come on Ino-chan its getting late. I'll walk you home."_

_He reached for her hand together they walked away._

"_It's a promise Ino I wont ever hurt you." He thought to himself._

_(End)_

"Okay everything's all set." He whispered as he double checked to see if he had everything. He threw his back pack on his back and locked his apartment door.

"Better go say goodbye to Ino-chan." With that the blond ran up the street towards the Yamanaka's flower shop.


	4. Its not easy to say goodbye

**A/N: Wow everyone really seems to be getting into the story. That's good I'm glad that you all are enjoying it. I'm really putting a lot of effort into this fic. Well without further ado here is chapter 4.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I would be rich sitting on a yacht on a private island somewhere. But I don't so you know the drill.**

* * *

Sakura double checked to make sure she was well prepared for the mission. Judging by the details of the mission she would be gone for some time. She would be with Naruto. It wasn't like she wasn't used to being on missions before, they were teammates. Yet things were more complicated this time around. Her relationship with Naruto hadn't been quite the same for awhile now. She had actually been sort of confused on her feelings for the blond for years. Sakura wasn't sure at the time. But even she couldn't deny that there was something there.

She knew for sure that her feelings for him were deep every time she had seen him get hurt. She cared and the only thing that mattered was making sure that he was okay. Every time he sent her one of those foxy grins it caused all sorts of feelings to stir inside of her heart. She knew for quite some time that she had indeed wanted to be with him. As she grew older she realized that her infatuation with Sasuke was just that an infatuation. There was never any real love there. It was a silly little school girl crush that she had already put to rest.

"I do want to be with him." She thought. "He really has become such a major part of my life."

The pink haired medic Nin realized that she still had time before she was to meet up with Shikamaru, Chouji, and Naruto. She sat down on her bed gazing out of the window.

* * *

**(Sakura's Daydream)  
**

_Sakura was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't heard the knock at the door. After a few moments the knocking didn't stop. It just continued over and over again._

"_Go away." She thought._

_Only the knocking continued. It was beginning to seriously annoy her._

"_Damn it. I'm coming." _

_She walked to the door and opened it. To her surprise she saw that it was Naruto. He had an apologetic grin on his face. He knew that the knocking must have gotten on her nerves._

"_Naruto?"_

"_Hi Sakura-chan can I come in?"_

"_Yeah." She nodded._

_The taller blond walked into the apartment. She wondered why he was suddenly here. Was is it about their mission? Had something suddenly happened?_

"_Um Naruto is something wrong?"  
_

_He turned to face her. He had that apologetic smile on his face again._

"_Sakura-chan I'm sorry."_

_Sakura blinked in confusion. She didn't understand what he was apologizing for. As far as she knew he had done nothing wrong._

"_Naruto I don't understand why are you sorry?"_

_He walked closer to her. They were now standing a few feet away from each other. Blue orbs staring into her jade green pools._

"_It took me some time to realize what I was doing to you. I was stupid for going out with Ino when you were here this whole time. I should have never led her on."_

_He walked closer towards her again lowering his face to hers. Her cheeks flushed red. She could literally feel her pulse quickening. _

"_Naruto…" She whispered._

"_It's always been you Sakura-chan. You know that, I know that, I think everyone knows that. I'm tired of denying my feelings."_

_He leaned down capturing her lips in a soft passionate kiss. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise she couldn't believe this was happening. Her mind told her that she should push him away. This was wrong Naruto had a girlfriend. She should not be kissing him back right now. Yet her body had reacted first. She wrapped her arms around him pulling him closer. For the moment nothing else mattered but the two of them. She wanted this for such a long time._

"_Wait no." She stopped herself pulling away. "This can't happen."  
_

The young woman was shot back to reality. Her heart was racing from her latest daydream.

"Damn." She whispered. "I have to stop doing this to myself. I need to go get ready and meet up with everyone."

* * *

Ino stood behind the counter of the flower shop. She was bored out of her mind. A part of her wished that she had a mission today, just so she could be out of the shop. It wasn't like she minded looking after the shop every once in awhile. It was just that it was such a lovely day. She could think of better things to do on a day like today. She sighed as she looked through a magazine.

"Damn it's boring." She thought.

She found herself wishing that Naruto was around. There was never a dull moment with him that was for sure. She was brought out of her thoughts when the door to the Yamanaka's flower shop opened.

"Welcome to Yamanaka's flower shop." She spoke. "Can I help…?" She looked up to see none other than the blond she had just been thinking about. "Naruto-kun." She said cheerfully. "What brings you by? Did you come to steal me away from all of this?" She laughed.

"Very funny Ino-chan." He laughed as well. "No getting out of your responsibilities."

"Yeah I know." She nodded.

Naruto then turned his attention to the flowers for a moment.

"Okay I get it. You came to stare at the flowers. Geez Naruto you're a really great boyfriend. You're staring at those flowers harder than you do me." She teased.

"Ah Ino-chan you know that you are the prettiest flower of all." He told her as he kissed her on the lips.

"Good save. How's your day going so far?"

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. Ino I have a mission and we're leaving in a little while."

Ino was quiet for a moment. "You're leaving." There was a hint of sadness in her voice. "Who's going with you?"

"Shikamaru, Chouji, and….."

"Good they'll watch your back." She immediately cut him off. "Shika's lazy and Chouji is always eating." She laughed. "But you can count on them for sure."

"Yeah I know." He agreed.

It was then that Ino realized that he was about to add another name in.

"Oh you were going to say something else weren't you?"

"Um…" He paused. He knew that he couldn't just lie to her. Ino noticed his reluctance. This didn't sit too well with her.

"So are you going to tell me or do I have to read your mind?" She spoke as she readied her jutsu.

"_Shit having a girlfriend that can invade my mind really sucks_." He thought. "That won't be necessary." Naruto laughed waving his hands in front of his face. "Sakura is going too."

The blond girl became quiet for a minute. She would be lying is she said that she didn't sometimes feel those lingering insecurities. And she hated to feel insecure about anything. Because in truth she believed that Sakura did have feelings for him. She still hadn't forgotten their conversation a few years ago.

* * *

**(Flashback 2 years ago)**

_Ino had just finished up her training with Ibiki Morino. A while ago she had decided that she wanted to pursue a career in Torture and Interrogation. Given her family's jutsu mind control ability she knew that she would be a natural. That and she just knew that she wouldn't back down in an interrogation. She could be very persuasive when she wanted to be. Ino was pretty sure that she had found her calling._

_"Hey Ino?" She heard her name._

_"Sakura what's up?"_

_"Nothing hey it's been awhile huh. You look busy."_

_"No I've just been training with Ibiki- sensei. But yeah you're right it has been awhile. Is everything okay?"_

_The pink haired medic Nin was silent for a moment. This was not going to be an easy conversation to start. In fact a part of her actually didn't want this conversation to come up. _

_"Hai, everything's fine. I was just wondering_ _if we could talk."  
_

_"Sure." The platinum blond nodded and the two girls sat down at a nearby bench._

_"Ino I understand if you don't want to talk about it. But I am kind of curious."  
_

_"Just spill it forehead say whatever's on your mind."_

_"Okay Ino-pig." She teased right back. "It's about you and Naruto."_

_Ino leaned back against the bench stretching her arms out._

_"What did you want to tease me about my relationship with him? Well go ahead I don't care. Naruto and I we…."_

_"No, No." Sakura cut her off. "I'm not going to tease you at all. I was just wondering how you two ended up together. I mean its not like the two of you were ever close or anything."_

_The blue eyed girl nodded in understanding. She could see the point that Sakura was trying to make. It was certainly true she and Naruto had never been close at all._

_"Yeah he and I were definitely not best friends. But I guess the more time I spent with him. I got to know him a lot better. He helped me a lot after Asuma-sensei died. Sometimes he didn't even have to say anything and I'd start feeling better. It was like just having him near cheered me up."  
_

_"That's Naruto for you." Sakura thought to herself._

_Ino stood up staring at her pink haired friend. There was a serious glint in those aqua colored orbs._

_"Look forehead I like him okay. I don't care if the whole damn village thinks it's odd or wrong. I'm happy I'm in a good place right now."_

_Sakura simply nodded forcing a bright smile._

_"I'm glad that you're happy Ino."_

_"Yeah but why do you want to know anyway. Why do you care who Naruto dates?"  
_

_Sakura knew that she couldn't tell her friend the truth. She felt that she didn't have to right to go and admit how she felt about Naruto know. Also she could see that Ino_ _was happy. She didn't want to go causing any problems in their relationship._

_"You guys are my friends. Is it really so wrong to make sure that you're both okay."_

_Ino only stared at her for a moment as she processed what Sakura said. If she had any doubts about the pink haired girl's words she didn't voice her opinion._

_"Nope I don't see a problem with that. Hey I gotta go I'm meeting Naruto at Ichiraku's. I swear him and that ramen. I'm going to try and break him out of it." She held determination in her voice._

**"**_Ha." Sakura laughed. "Good luck."_

_"Yeah I know." Ino laughed as well. _

_"Well I'll see you later I guess."_

_"Bye." The blond waved_

**(End)**

**

* * *

**

"Okay." Ino nodded. "Well that's good right. She's a good medic Nin she can watch out for all of you."

Ino suddenly went over to the roses so she could water them. Naruto blinked in confusion.

"Alright what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothings wrong. Why would there be." She replied quickly.

A pair of strong arms was now placed around her waist. He buried his face into her neck.

"Aw come on Ino-chan it's been 2 years. You don't think I know you by now." He told her.

Ino wasn't about to admit that she was feeling insecure about him and Sakura being together on a mission. She mentally cursed herself for feeling that way. She and Naruto had been together for 2 years now. They were solid weren't they? This had been her longest and definitely most serious relationship that she had ever been in.

"Naruto I'm fine really. Do you know how long you're going to be gone?"

"Hm." He thought. "Well we're going to Suna to help with the restoration of the village. You remember that attack that happened a little while ago?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"So Baa-chan is sending us out there to help out."

"So you're probably going to be gone for awhile."

"Yeah." He said in a low whisper.

The platinum blond closed her eyes a sudden uneasy feeling ran through her.

"Well you betterget going. You don't want to keep them waiting."

"You know that I'm going to miss you right Ino-chan?"

"_I'm going to miss you too_." She thought. "Are you getting mushy on me Uzumaki?"

"Only if you want me to." He smiled and gently pecked her cheek.

"Fine just go okay." She moved his arms from around her. "You don't want to keep Shika and the others waiting."

Naruto slowly backed up. He could feel that something wasn't right. The atmosphere in the room felt colder.

"Ino are you angry with me? Look you know if I could stay here with you I would."

"_Then why don't you_." She wanted to say to him. "Yeah I know. Just go okay and be careful."

Naruto walked over to the door. He placed his hand on to the knob. He really hated to leave things like this.

"Hey Ino-chan once I get back we're going out okay." He had a cheerful grin on his face. "We'll go somewhere really nice it's a promise. I'll try and hurry back, see you soon."

She flinched as she heard the door close. She hadn't meant to be so cold towards him. In truth she wasn't even angry with him. She understood that a mission was a mission. But it did little to ease her insecurity. Or help the fact that she was going to miss him. She would definitely have to keep busy for the time being.

"Maybe I'll ask Ibiki-sensei for extra training. It's not like it'll hurt. That and how else am I going to be the best if I don't work hard."

The blond leaned on her elbow as she stood behind the counter. Yes today was clearly goingto be a boring day. Yet there was something else eating at her. She still had that uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Also she didn't really like the way things ended with Naruto. As far as she was concerned that was no way to really say goodbye to your boyfriend. She decided to close the shop for awhile and go after him.

"I need to go see him off the right away." She thought to herself as she locked the door to the shop and made her way to the gates of Konoha.


	5. Our worst fears come true

**A/N: This probably would have been up sooner but as I was re reading it I decided that it was weak and needed revision. So here it goes I think its better.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

**Oh yeah and I want to send a quick thanks to MiKe2vICIoUs. I hope I spelled it right sorry. But thanks a lot for your little suggestion. Feel free to help out anytime - it's always appreciated.**

* * *

Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sakura were already waiting by the gates. They happened to be missing one member. It was odd to find Naruto not there. He was always pumped and ready to go. If anything he should have been impatiently waiting for them to arrive; and shouting at them for keeping him waiting. Apparently something had distracted the blond from meeting with them. The black haired male leaned up against the wall.

"He's late." Shikamaru spoke.

"Yeah he is sort of running late." Chouji nodded in agreement.

Sakura on the other hand had not been paying attention. In truth her mind was still on her latest daydream. It wasn't her first and she was pretty sure that it wasn't going to be her last. After each dream it had always left her feeling a bit uneasy. Not to mention the fact that her cheeks would be flushed. Her heart seemed to just want to burst out of her chest. Her pulse would quicken with each lingering thought. If her dreams had felt like that she could only imagine how good it would fee in real life.

"Oi Sakura Naruto didn't tell you where he would be going or anything. You know him better than almost anyone. We should really be heading out soon. I can tell that this is already going to be troublesome."

"Maybe he's at Ichiraku's." the pink haired young woman suggested. He can get carried away sometimes you know."

Chouji looked up with an offended look on his face. He looked at Sakura as if she just said the absolute worst thing in the world.

"He would dare to go and stuff his face without me?"

"Chouji calm down. I'm sure that Naruto is on his way."

The three of them looked up when they heard some footsteps. They were all relieved to see that it was their blond haired teammate. It really was about damn time he showed up.

"There you are."

"Sorry I didn't mean to make you guys wait. We can get going now." He told them.

Sakura noticed his facial expression. Something was bothering him she was sure of it. She could tell just by that distant look in his eyes.

"Naruto are you alright?" She wondered.

"Hai." He nodded. "Everything's good Sakura-chan."

"Were you late because you and Ino were having a long tearful goodbye?" Chouji laughed making kissing noises with his mouth.

"Ah, come on Chouji cut it out." Naruto sighed.

"Sorry I was just kidding you know that."

Shikamaru simply closed his eyes in frustration. He could think of a lot of better things to do right now. And heading the list was catching up on a nap. But of course he had no time to sleep.

"Okay now that that's settled lets do a quick check to make sure we have everything. And then we can head out." The lazy male of the group said.

Naruto watched as his friends went over the checklist. His mind was on to other things. He was hoping that Ino wasn't still upset with him. He remembered her tone of voice. Something had been bothering her even if she wouldn't admit to it.

"Yo Naruto!" Chouji called his name "Hello earth to Naruto."

"Huh oh Chouji what's up?"

"You tell me you look like you're a million miles away."

Naruto went to say something but when he sensed a familiar presence. A small smile rose to his face.

"Naruto?" he heard his name.

"Ino-chan?" The blond male turned around.

Ino waited a moment before saying anything. She gripped her fist tightly as if she was trying to gather up some courage. She seemed to be a little nervous. Naruto found this more than odd. The beautiful blond made her way over to him so that she was now standing a few feet in front of her boyfriend.

"Ino what are you doing here? We're about to head out." Shikamaru told her.

"Well that's certainly a nice way to talk to a friend you lazy bum. Anyway this wont take long." She then focused her aqua colored orbs on to Naruto.

"Naruto here." She handed him her golden locket. He had given it to her for their one year anniversary. As far as he knew Ino had loved that gift. She had always kept it near hardly ever taking it off. He blinked in confusion.

"Um Ino-chan why are you giving it back? Are you breaking up with me? You aren't really going to do that are you? I…I…." he started to panic.

Ino frowned.

"No baka, I want you to hold on to it. It's for good luck."

"Ah." He nodded. She placed the locket in his hand their fingers becoming intertwined. Sakura could only watch them in silence. As if she could do or say something to interrupt the couple in their moment. She couldn't just go over there and break them apart right now.

Ino walked closer to him wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"I'm sorry for how things went down back at the flower shop. Be careful on your mission okay."

Sakura watched as Naruto placed his arms around her waist pulling her closer. He was holding her in such a loving and sincere manner. It was exactly the way a girl would want to be held by her boyfriend. A part of her wished that she was in Ino's place right now. She wanted to be the one that the handsome blond was holding. She wanted to be able to feel his arms wrapped around her. She wanted to feel that same way that Ino had to be feeling right now.

"Don't worry Ino-chan I will. I'll be back before you know it. You won't even have time to miss me." He smiled for his girlfriend.

"Liar." She smiled back.

Shikamaru closed his eyes shrugging his shoulders. Chouji already brought out the bag of chips. The loud unbearable crunching of the chips was starting to get to Ino. She raised her eyebrow in annoyance.

"Chouji do you mind! We're trying to have a moment." She shouted.

"What? Sorry it's not like this is goodbye forever. You'll see him again."

"I know that but……"

"It's okay Ino-chan you don't have to say anything I understand. But we really do have to go now."

"Yeah I know, wait a minute though."

She leaned up pressing her lips to his. Their kiss started off soft and warm but soon became much more passionate. She deepened their kiss only pulling away for some air.

"Well it's definitely one way to really say goodbye to your boyfriend." She thought.

"Alright…." Naruto breathed. "That was amazing Ino-chan you're really going to miss me huh." He teased.

"Shut up." She smiled. "Now you have to get going. Good luck you guys bye Shika, Chouji, Sakura, Naruto-kun." She spoke and turned to leave.

"Later Ino." Shikamaru waved.

"Bye." Chouji spoke threw a mouthful of chips.

"We'll see you when we get back." Sakura nodded.

Naruto waited until she was gone from sight before turning to his friends.

"Okay." He smiled warmly. "Let's move out."

It would take three days to reach Suna. And they still didn't know just how long they would be staying there. It all really depended on how much work needed to be done. No matter what though Naruto knew that he and Ino would be apart for awhile. The blond took the locket that Ino gave to him. He stared at it for awhile before placing it inside his inner jacket pocket.

"I wonder why she seemed so on edge. It can't be just because of this mission. I've been on missions before. It's something more than that." He was sure of this.

The blond just decided that he would talk to her about it when he returned to Konoha. He hated to leave without really talking to her. But he didn't have much of a choice in the matter right now.

"Ino-chan I hope you're going to be okay." He thought.

* * *

His blond counterpart found herself missing her other half. The beautiful kunoichi stood at her and Naruto's favorite spot by the lake. This was their place. They shared their first real kiss here, so this place would always be rather special. Today was a really warm, sunny day. She only wished that he could be here with her now.

"Geez how long has it been 2…3 weeks. I really miss you Naruto-kun." She thought.

"Hey Ino." A voice called out to her.

She turned around to see her blond whisker faced boyfriend.

"Naruto you're back." She ran to him placing her arms around his neck. He remained frozen. He made no sudden movements to return her embrace. This was strange. He would have already embraced her by now. She blinked in confusion.

"Naruto is something wrong?"

"Ino." He had a serious tone in her voice. "Ino we need to talk."

"_He didn't say Ino-chan."_ She thought. "Okay Naruto what's going on? You sound so serious."

Ino knew that she wouldn't like where this conversation was headed. Naruto didn't get serious unless it was really important.

"I don't want to do this but it's necessary. Ino we cant keep pretending that everything's all good. We both know the truth."

"The truth?" She whispered.

"Yeah I think that you know what I mean Ino. Did you really think that we we're going to last forever or something. You know how I feel about Sakura-chan."

The expression on her face completely dropped. It looked as if the life had been sucked right out of her. She was hurt, she was furious, she wanted to hit him. She wanted to cause him the same kind of pain that she was feeling. How dare that bastard do this to her? Two years of her life wasted for nothing. Did he have any idea how much she cared for him. Did he even care about how much time she spent thinking about him; and how she had only wanted his happiness?

"You…you….asshole." She punched him.

Naruto took her punch. His facial expression seemed to soften. He knew that he deserved to be hit for breaking her heart.

"I' am sorry Ino. I should have been more honest with you from the start. But it's always been Sakura. No matter what I do I can't stop feeling for her."

Tears of pain and anger swelled up in her eyes as she punched him again. She didn't care how badly she punched him right now. All that mattered was making him understand how much he had hurt her.

"You're sorry? You're sorry." She repeated. "You goddamn asshole. I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" she shouted through her tears.

Ino awoke with a start her head was killing her and there was indeed tears in her eyes. That dream had felt so incredibly real. She sighed clutching her pillow.

"Come on Ino pull your self together. It was only a dream. It wasn't real none of it was real. It was only a dream." She repeated.

The blue eyed girl laid back down throwing her pillow over her head. There was no way that she would get back to sleep after that. Her dream had reflected one of her biggest fears. She dreaded losing him to any woman especially Sakura. She had spent so much time with him over the last 2 years. She really couldn't imagine her life without him.

"Hey Ino-chan what's wrong?" she heard.

Ino sat up removing the pillow from her head. She turned to see Naruto sitting besides her. He was shirtless Ino smiled slightly. No matter how many times she had seen him this way, she could never get tired of seeing him shirtless. He had a very nice well toned body. The kind of chest that you wanted to just admire all day and run your fingers up and down his abs.

"Na…Naruto what are you doing here? I thought that you had a mission."

"Yeah but Baa-chan decided to send Neji and team Gai instead. So you now what that means ne Ino-chan?"

She stared at him as he moved closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Now I can be with you." He smiled as he tried to pull her into a kiss. Ino backed away from him. He wondered why she was being so reluctant. Since when did she not want to kiss him? He put his hand to her shoulder.

"Ino-chan what's wrong? Why don't you want me to kiss you? I brushed my teeth." He spoke as he checked to make sure that his breath was indeed fresh.

"No that's not it your breath is fine. It's just that I had a really bad dream."

"Oh." He nodded and hugged her. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah I feel a lot better."

"That's good."

Just then Sakura entered the room. She looked from Ino and then turned her attention to Naruto. There was a sort of far off look in her eyes.

"Naruto did you tell her yet?" She asked.

"No Sakura-chan I didn't get a chance to tell her yet."

"Oh." She whispered.

"Tell me what Naruto."

"Ino…." Sakura started.

"Last time I checked your name wasn't Naruto forehead." She said in a stern tone.

The platinum blond turned her attention back to her boyfriend. He was the only person she wanted to hear from right now. As far as she was concerned Sakura was not in the room right now.

"Naruto? Talk to me okay."

"Ino-chan I've been doing some thinking for awhile now. And I've really enjoyed my time with you. But…." He then stood up walking over to Sakura. He placed his arm around the pink haired girl's waist.

"I love you Ino but I'm not in love with you. I'm in love with Sakura-chan I always have been."

Ino froze as she turned her attention elsewhere. She avoided the gazes of both Naruto and Sakura. If she pretended that they weren't there then everything would be okay.

"Maybe if I don't look at this just maybe I'll wake up from my nightmare."

"Ino I'm really sorry." Sakura apologized. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I never wanted to hurt you."

"Shut the fuck up! I don't want to hear your voice. Get the fuck out of here both of you."

Naruto tried to move closer to her. He wanted to be able to comfort her. She felt him trying to approach her and threw the lamp on her nightstand at him. He moved out of the way dodging a direct hit.

"Ino I…."

"I told you to get out and take that bitch with you."

She turned around waiting for the sound of the door to slam shut.

"Ino I'm sorry." Naruto whispered as he left the room. She threw her covers over her finally allowing the tears to pour down her eyes. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"NO!" She shouted awaking from her sleep once more. She sat up her breathing was heavy and ragged. Her chest feeling as if it would burst out of her chest. She couldn't take this unbearable feeling.

"Another dream." She whispered. "No another nightmare. This is going to be a long night." She sighed before collapsing back on to the bed. Sleep would not be coming for Ino Yamanaka tonight.


	6. Just thinking of you

**A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews. I have to say that I totally have a lot more respect for Ino-chan because of the research I had to do on flowers for this chapter lol. Who knew that flowers could be so complex? Any who enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

* * *

After traveling for days the group of four was finally nearing Suna. Naruto had been eager to get there. For one it would be nice to see Gaara again after so long. And the sooner they did get there the sooner they could complete their mission. 

"I don't think that this mission will be too troublesome. From what I heard most of the major work has already been handled." Shikamaru started.

"Yeah Baa-chan probably sent us to show good faith or something. I mean they are our friends. They would have done the same for us."

"But why only us four though?" Chouji wondered.

"Everyone else was probably too busy with missions or other things. Oh well it doesn't really matter does it as long as we get this done."

Naruto couldn't help but notice how quiet Sakura was. She seemed to be distracted about something.

"Sakura-chan are you okay?"

"Hm?" she turned to look at him. "Hai I'm fine. I was just thinking about how nice it would be to see Gaara-sama, Temari-san, and Kankuro again."

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "I wonder how Gaara's doing. It's been awhile. It'll be nice to catch up with the Kazekage for awhile." his blue eyes shining brightly.

"Remember Naruto we do have a mission try not to goof off." Sakura warned.

"She's right." Chouji agreed.

The blond male of the group looked offended holding his mouth open for a moment.

"Come on guys have some faith in me. It's not like I'm going to screw up or something. I'm not a kid anymore. After all I'm going to be Hokage one day." He reminded them.

The friends said nothing they were indeed used to this behavior. Although he was older and more mature the bottom line was Naruto would always be Naruto.

"Yeah we know but still if you don't watch it we just might have to send for Ino. She can come in and take care of you. Could get troublesome." Shikamaru spoke with slight amusement.

Naruto froze at the thought of Ino yelling at him. Oh yeah like he really needed that to happen.

"That's not funny."

"Yeah I mean you don't want to go pissing her off. She's scary when she has to be." The Akimichi said.

"Hell yeah don't I know it." Naruto laughed.

Sakura could really care less about what the three guys were talking about. That was why she decided to change the subject.

"Come on guys." Sakura quickly interrupted. "We're almost there."

* * *

Meanwhile back in Konoha a beautiful blond kunoichi was heading home after working with Ibiki-sensei. She really did enjoy working alongside him. She enjoyed it so much that she ended up putting her medic-nin career on hold for awhile. It wasn't that she didn't have an appreciation for the field; it was a very important responsibility. And she of course could still do the basics. Ino also knew that if she wanted to she could pursue it fill time. She could probably have been just as qualified as Sakura was. The blond just felt that she was much better suited for torture and interrogation. 

"I wonder if Asuma-sensei would be proud of me." She thought.

A few moments later a smile rose to her face. "Yeah I know that he is."

She sat down at the bench so she could relax for a moment. The day was absolutely perfect. There wasn't a cloud in sight yet she couldn't help but feel that something was missing.

"Oh yeah it's so quiet because Naruto's not around. Hm," she smirked. "I guess I miss him already even though it's only been a few days."

She wondered how things were going so far. She was pretty sure that everything would be okay. Naruto was a damn good ninja and he wouldn't allow anything to happen to his teammates. She knew that before long she would be greeted with that warm smile of his. He would then go on telling her how successful the mission was. Then they would go out probably to eat at Ichiraku's.

She didn't mind so much anymore. She really was quite used to it by now. Ino understood very well that ramen was his favorite dish. Although in the beginning she had to admit it did bother her a lot.

**(Flashback Ino and Naruto's first official date)**

_Ino and Naruto were now revealed to be an official couple. All of their friends were aware of their relationship. So_ _there really was no point in not going out together. They weren't a secret anymore._

"_Come on Ino-chan you'll have a good time I promise." Naruto smiled._

"_Wait hold on where are we going?" she asked as he reached for her hand leading the way. Ino had to admit that she was curious to see what he had planned. He was after all always full of surprises. Before long the couple was standing outside of Ichiraku's. Ino's eyes widened._

"_Oh Naruto." She groaned in disappointment. "I should have known. You do know that there is other food in the world besides ramen right?"_

"_Yeah but ramen is the best. Come on Ino-chan."_

"_Alright." She shrugged her shoulders. Naruto's insane love of ramen was just something she would have to get used to. The two blonds sat down together._

"_Hey old man I'll have a large miso ramen, and um Ino what do you want?"_

"_I don't want anything I'm fine."_

_Naruto simply frowned at this. In the presence of his company he would be damned if no one was eating besides him._

"_Oh come on you aren't dieting again are you? Ino-chan you're beautiful. You don't need to make yourself any skinnier than you already are. You're going to eat."_

_A small blush rose to her cheeks as he complimented her. Moments later Teuchi placed a bowl of miso ramen in front of him._

"_Here you go Naruto."_

"_Thanks." He then took his chopsticks dipping it into the ramen. "Here Ino-chan taste."_

"_No thanks really." She declined._

"_If you don't try it you'll never know if you'll like it or not."_

"_Naruto you are not going to turn me into an obsessed ramen freak. Oh, no offense though babe." She smiled._

"_Aw come on Ino-chan don't make me beg."_

"_No." she closed her mouth turning her head the other way. Naruto could see that this was going to take some effort on his end._

"_Come on just a quick bite for me Ino." He said as he tried to feed her._

_She simply shook her head keeping her mouth shut. It was then that a mischievous grin rose to his face. He had an idea._

"_Wow Ino-chan this is the quietest that I've ever seen you. I didn't think it was ever possible you know. You're usually so loud…."_

_Naruto knew that his words would affect her. There was no way that she was going to just sit there and not respond to him._

"_Naruto! You…."_

_Now was his chance. As soon as she opened her mouth he quickly fed her some of his ramen. Her eyes widened as she gripped her fist trying to refrain from knocking his lights out. She had no choice but to eat. It was either that or throw it up. And this was a date after all; she couldn't very well do such a disgusting thing like that. Ino simply swallowed the ramen._

"_See that wasn't so bad was it?"_

_The blond girl hung her head down for a moment. Quickly she looked up with flames in her eyes._

"_What the hell Naruto were you trying to kill me? That's not how you should treat your girlfriend."_

"_Oh come on Ino-chan. I only wanted you to try it. I mean we're together now right? We should compromise and take interest in each others lives."_

_Ino blinked curiously. She couldn't help but to smile at his thoughtful words._

"_Hai you're right Naruto-kun. Hey Teuchi-san I'll have what he's having."_

_She watched in pure amazement at how many bowls he was able to put away. It was like his stomach was nothing but a black hole._

"_Where does he put it all? And he always has so much energy. I wonder if this is his secret."_

_After a few more bowls as Naruto had suggested the couple walked away hand in hand. Ino had to admit she was feeling a little disappointed by this whole thing._

"_If his idea of romance is having me watch him stuff his face; then he has lots to learn." "You do know that we're going to do some things that I like right." She told him._

"_Aww Ino-chan we aren't going to girly things are we?" he complained._

_The blond female frowned and brought her fist over his head._

"_Watch it Naruto!"_

"_Yes ma'am." He sighed. "Hey come on there's one more place that we have to go."_

_She was a little more than reluctant to see what Naruto had planned now. The only comfort to her was knowing that it would have nothing to do with ramen._

"_It'd better not have anything to do with more ramen." She thought to herself._

_Ino soon saw that they were near a lake. Tonight seemed to be especially beautiful with the stars, and the moon shining over the water perfectly._

"_It's beautiful tonight." She whispered._

"_Yeah it really is." He said as he kept on staring at her. "Ino-chan I have something for you."_

_She turned to look at him as he handed her a small mixed bouquet of white lilacs and orchids. Ino hadn't even seen him pick those up. And judging by the way they were arranged he had obviously put some thought into it. He also must have had the flowers already there waiting the whole time._

"_He planned this whole thing out. They're beautiful Naruto. Um, Naruto you do know what these flowers mean right?"_

_To be honest she really wasn't expecting him to know. But she really did appreciate the nice gesture._

"_Sure I do Ino-chan. I know that you like flowers a lot so I did some research sort of." He grinned. "The white lilacs are for your beauty, and those orchids mean that I will make life sweet for you; because I plan to be the best boyfriend ever." He smiled warmly._

_Ino's eyes widened in surprise; he actually took the time to learn about something that had always been important to her. Naruto noticed her silence. He of course immediately took her reaction the wrong way._

"_You don't like them do you? Hey I can find you some other kind of flower believe it." He added in his signature punch line. Ino stopped him._

"_No Naruto I love them. It was really sweet. Thank you." She spoke as she gently placed a kiss on his cheek._

The blond girl knew that how lucky she was to have a sweet guy like Naruto. She really was thankful that she had the opportunity to get to know him. And now here they were two years later, who would have ever imagined that they would be able to last this long. Yes Yamanaka Ino was in a truly good place right now. She decided that she would leave those insecurities about Naruto being alone with Sakura behind her. After all she really had no reason to worry? Or did she?

"No it's not a big deal. I can trust Naruto. I don't have anything to worry about."

Ino had always shown confidence in everything. She wasn't about to let that change now. She had faith in both Naruto and their relationship. Sure every relationship had their ups and downs that was a given. Overall though the blond kunoichi was happy; she could remember falling asleep in his arms, waking up the same way in the mornings, making out with him at their spot by the lake. Sure the couple had arguments and disagreements. They were equally loud, blond, and stubborn as all hell. But the bottom line was that Ino didn't want to change a thing. She was more than happy and satisfied with how the way her life was going.

"Okay that's enough of this sitting around missing him when I'll see him again before I know it." She smiled to herself before taking off towards her apartment.

* * *

Meanwhile the group of four had finally reached Suna. They were all hot, sweaty, and to be honest more than glad to find that they had reached their destination. 

"We're finally here." Naruto spoke first.

"It's about time I was worried that we'd have to send a search party out for all of you." A female voice was heard. The four friends looked up to see a familiar blond haired woman holding on to her more than recognizable fan.

"Temari-san…." Sakura smiled.


	7. Unanswered Questions

"Hello Sakura, Naruto, Chouji, crybaby boy." She teased Shikamaru with her nickname for him.

"Tch troublesome woman." Shikamaru responded.

Sakura had always wondered if there was something going on between the two of them. They seemed to have good chemistry with one another. Yet if there was some truth to a possible relationship between them, they did a good job denying it.

"Seriously I know that it takes three traveling days time. But we sent that letter to Konoha awhile ago."

"Um blame it on the mail carrier." Naruto smiled hopefully. "Sorry but we're here now and ready to go."

"That's Naruto for you always fired up and ready to go." Chouji said.

The sand kunoichi said nothing for a moment. She of course knew all too well how energetic the blond was. She actually respected his drive. If only a certain lazy Nara could have half of his spunk.

"Well you guys just got here and it's going to get dark soon. So you won't have to do anything today. You should probably just rest up for tonight."

"That sounds good to me." The black haired male spoke.

"Of course no surprise there." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey when can we see Gaara how's he doing?" Naruto interrupted.

"Yeah how are Kazekage-sama and Kankuro doing?" The pink haired female questioned.

"Gaara's actually in a meeting right now. We'll all have dinner tonight and you can see him then. Kankuro he's around….somewhere."

Naruto sighed he was really looking forward to catching up with his friend. Well it wasn't like he was the talkative type. It just would have been nice to see him anyway.

"Well I guess that can't be helped."

"Come on I'll show you to where you'll be staying."

Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sakura followed behind Temari. They looked around the village. Things didn't appear to be too bad.

"Hey things don't look so bad." The blue eyed male said.

"Yeah a lot of the major damage has already been taken cared of. You guys probably won't have to stay too long here."

"Alright that means that we can get back to Konoha sooner than we thought."

Temari shot Naruto a glare. He swallowed hard he didn't want to go pissing her off.

"Not that it's not good to see you, Gaara, and Kankuro." He started to defend himself. "It's just…."

"He just wants to get back to be with his girlfriend." Chouji laughed.

Temari raised an eyebrow in question.

"A girlfriend huh? Who's the girl huh Naruto?"

Before Naruto could speak Shikamaru answered for him.

"You remember mine and Chouji's troublesome teammate Ino?"

"Oh yeah." She nodded. "So is she treating you good Naruto because if she isn't; I can always have a friendly woman to woman chat with her."

Temari had always been grateful to Naruto for helping out her little brother in such an extraordinary way. Naruto's friendship had changed Gaara for the better. She treated Naruto just like he was one of her brothers. Naruto on the other hand shuddered at the thought of this "friendly" conversation between Ino and Temari. If he knew both girls things could get ugly and it just wouldn't end up a very friendly conversation at all.

"That's not necessary Temari. Ino-chan and I are great." He promised.

"Yeah they are Konoha's hottest couple." The Akimichi teased.

"You and Ino are perfect for each other Naruto. The two of you are loud, blond, and far too troublesome." Shikamaru added his input.

"Everything's troublesome for you Shikamaru." Naruto told him.

Temari, Chouji, and Naruto laughed at this. Sakura joined in as well just because it would have been awkward if she hadn't laughed too. A lot of people would probably agree with Shikamaru though. Naruto and Ino seemed to be compatible with one another. They were both indeed loud with in your face personalities. Besides they wouldn't have been together this long if something wasn't working. Temari took the friends to a very nice apartment. It was spacious so everyone ended up having their own rooms.

"Gaara made sure that you all would be comfortable during your stay."

"This really isn't supposed to be a vacation. But it is very much appreciated." Sakura spoke.

"Yeah I'll say." Chouji agreed with her as he grabbed some fruit from a basked on the table.

Shikamaru sat down immediately placing his hands behind his head.

"Okay well I'll come back when Gaara's meeting is over so that we can have dinner tonight. But tomorrow you guys will get to work that goes for you crybaby boy." She looked directly at Shikamaru.

Sakura held her laugh she really did have a lot of respect for the older kunoichi.

"Don't worry Temari we'll make sure Shikamaru's not slacking off." Naruto promised.

"Right I know. I'll see you all later." With that she left the apartment leaving the four friends alone.

"I'm going to put my things in a room." Sakura announced.

Naruto on the other hand didn't fee like sitting still.

"I'm going to go out for a walk maybe I'll run into Kankuro or something."

"I'll be here." Shikamaru told him as he closed his eyes again.

"Yeah I know when I get back you'll be sleeping." Naruto laughed.

Naruto was about to leave when Sakura had called out to him.

"Naruto be careful okay."

"Relax Sakura-chan I'm just going for a walk."

"Yeah but knowing you, you might get into some kind of trouble." She gently teased.

"Ha, Ha very funny Sakura-chan." He said no more as he left the apartment. He was actually quite eager to get started on helping around the village. He really disliked sitting around and doing nothing. Temari had been right though it was going to be dark soon. There really was no point in starting anything today.

"Man I'm starving." He heard his stomach grumble. He needed to find food and he needed to do so now. The blond found himself at a sushi restaurant. Ramen was of course his all time favorite food in the world and that wasn't going to change. His relationship with Ino had opened him up to different things. She had him try sushi one day and he became hooked. His quick snack of sushi had him thinking about Ino. He wondered what she was up to right now. He almost felt the urge to run into the Yamanaka's flower shop and steal his girlfriend away. Of course he had to remember he was not in Konoha right now. So it wasn't like he could just go and talk to her.

"Is this seat taken?" he heard.

He looked up blue eyes meeting a pool of jade green orbs.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah I couldn't take another moment of Shikamaru's sleeping or Chouji's eating."

Naruto nodded and watched as the pink haired girl sat down. She ordered something as well she couldn't help it. How could she not be hungry after all the traveling they did to get to Suna?

"It's still so weird to see you eating something other than ramen."

"Yeah Ino-chan had me try a lot of new things."

Sakura simply nodded she didn't want to talk about Ino right now. It seemed like for all this time the platinum blond was constantly mentioned. She only wanted to have a moment where Ino wasn't talked about. Was that really so much to ask for? As the bill came Sakura reached in her purse for some money.

"It's okay Sakura-chan I'll pay for it."

He suddenly took out the all too familiar frog change purse that he always carried. The pink haired medic nin's eyes twitched.

"You honestly don't still have that thing do you?"

Naruto frowned and a look of seriousness washed over his face.

"Sakura never insult Gama-chan."

"Okay geez I'm sorry." She suppressed a laugh. "I guess some things never change."

After exiting the restaurant the two friends walked side by side. This felt nice. Sakura almost wished that things could always be like this; just her and Naruto like old times. Only it wasn't going to stay this way. After the mission was over he would be going back to Ino. She was after all his girlfriend and she on the other hand was just his friend.

"Sakura-chan you're pretty quiet is everything okay?"

"Hm?" she turned to look at him. "I'm fine I was just thinking. You know this is the first time that we've been on a mission together in a long time."

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "Well we always did work well together huh Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah." She nodded in agreement.

In some ways Naruto had been her best friend. They had become really close after he returned from his two year training trip with Jiraiya. After awhile she began to notice her growing feelings for the blond. Only she could never bring herself to tell him; mainly because she didn't know how or where to start. In the past she had rejected his feelings and then there was her childhood crush on Sasuke. If she had told him what she felt for him who's to say that he would have even believe her. Sakura stared at the back of Naruto's head. She wondered all the time if things would have been different if she had told him. Would he have accepted her? Would they be together now? Or would he still be with Ino.

There were so many questions that had been left unanswered. The pink haired girl wanted to ask those questions. A part of her just wanted to tell Naruto the truth. Only she had to respect his relationship with Ino. And in truth she really didn't want to hurt Ino. She would always consider her a friend, seeing as how Ino was indeed her first friend. She couldn't do the selfish thing in this situation. In fact sometimes she wished that Naruto could be a bit more selfish. If there was even the slightest chance that he still had some feelings for her she wanted to know. Out of respect for Ino he wouldn't admit to it. Naruto was a loyal man plain and simple. There was just no way that he would do the selfish thing and betray her.

"Naruto, Sakura."

The two shinobi turned to see none other than the familiar face of Kankuro.

"Hey Kankuro still playing with makeup eh?" Naruto spoke.

"Quiet little boy." Kankuro teased back.

"Hi Kankuro how are you?" Sakura asked.

"I'm good. I was actually sent to find the two of you Gaara's waiting. You're friends are already there at the Kazekage mansion."

"Right." Naruto smiled. "Come on Sakura-chan I'll race you. We can't keep Kazekage-sama waiting now." He laughed.

"Naruto wait." She started. Only he was already running off.

"Come on Sakura-chan while we're still young." He shouted.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and hit her fist in the palm of her hand.

"Okay just wait until I catch up to you." She whispered with a slight smile on her face.

* * *

A young woman with blond hair stood with one hand on her hip and the other holding on to a nearby chair. 

"Are you ready to talk now?"

"I don't have anything to say."

She frowned that was not really the answer she was looking for.

"Wrong answer." She pulled his finger back. He flinched as a cracking sound was made.

"Bitch." He muttered.

She pulled out a kunai shoving it into his hand.

"Do you want to repeat that? Only louder this time so that everyone can hear you."

"You stupid blond bitch…."

She punched him square in the jaw. His head tilted back.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you, you asshole. You ready to talk or what? Or do I have to make these ropes tighter?" She threatened.

"I'm supposed to be afraid of some little girl like you? What are you going to do paint my toenails and make me do your shopping?" He taunted.

A look of anger flashed across the blonds face. Yet her aqua colored orbs held its calm expression.

"I have all day and so many different ways to torture you. It's really up to you how we approach this. We can do this the easy way or the hard way it's your call. I'll come back to check on you and then we can play some more." She turned to leave.

The man frowned and readied himself to spit on her. Ino turned slightly throwing a shuriken at him. It wasn't intended to hit him as it went passed his face just nearly grazing him.

"That was just a warning shot. Try that shit again and you'll see what torture really is."

The blond closed the door behind her slamming it shut.

"How's it going?" A deep voice was heard.

"Ibiki-sensei he hasn't cracked yet but he will." She spoke confidently.

"This is your first interrogation but I have confidence in your ability." The taller male nodded as a way of saying goodbye before continuing down the hall. Ino stood in silence for a moment.

"Ibiki-sensei has faith in my ability. Okay I'm going to finish this asshole off for Ibiki-sensei and for you Naruto. I can't wait to tell you all about my first interrogation." She thought to herself as she re entered the room with more determination than before.


	8. Am I really the one you miss?

A/N: Wow it's been awhile since I've updated this about a month I believe. Thanks for the reviews though and for reading. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

Naruto ran up the stairs and burst into the dining area. He spotted Shikamaru, Temari, Chouji, and Gaara already seated at table.

"Gaara." He shouted "Long time no see how are you?"

Sakura grabbed him placing her hand over his mouth in attempt to silence him.

"Naruto not so loud." She warned. "Sorry we're late Kazekage-sama."

Gaara simply nodded. "That's fine. Why don't you both sit."

Naruto took the empty seat by Shikamaru while Sakura took the one next to Temari. Dinner went by quietly with very light conversation. It was to be expected though it wasn't as if Gaara was the most talkative person in the world. Sure his personality had changed a lot due to his friendship with Naruto. But no one was expecting him to suddenly break out into song and dance with a cheesy, happy grin on his face. They all shuddered at the thought. That would definitely be the day. Dinner did not last much longer from there.

"I have to retire. I am afraid I have urgent meetings in the morning. Enjoy the rest of your evening." The red haired Kazekage spoke.

"Ah Gaara that's no fun we're your guests you have to entertain us." Naruto smiled.

"My apologies. But when you become Hokage one day you will have the same responsibilities."

Naruto nodded he could see where Gaara was going with this.

"Okay, Okay I get it. I'll catch up to you soon Gaara."

The red haired male nodded before taking his leave.

"It's getting late. We should probably go rest up for tomorrow." Shikamaru told his friends.

"Yeah." Chouji agreed.

"You guys go ahead. I want to talk to Sakura for a moment." Temari said. "You don't mind do you?" she asked the pink haired medic nin.

In truth Sakura was curious as to what the blond sand kunoichi wanted to talk about.

"No I don't mind."

"Temari why do you want to talk to Sakura-chan?" Naruto wondered.

"Naruto." Shikamaru called out to him. "This is obviously about girl things we should go."

"Oh." He nodded. "Will you be okay Sakura-chan. It's late and I don't want you to walk back by yourself."

Sakura smiled at his concern. She appreciated it but he had to know by now that she was going to be okay.

"Hai I'll be fine Naruto. I can handle myself I'll see you all later okay."

Temari waited until the three males were gone. There was a moment of awkward silence before the older girl spoke to her.

"You have feelings for him don't you?" It was blunt and straight to the point. Temari was clearly wasting no time in getting to what she had to say. Sakura opened her mouth slightly. She couldn't say that she was surprised by Temari's straightforwardness.

"Temari I…."

"Its okay you don't have to deny it. I'm a woman I can sense these things. Besides I saw the way that you've been looking at him. Not to mention your facial expression when Ino was mentioned."

The pink haired girl sat down across from Temari. What could she do now lie and say that Temari was wrong. They both knew that if she said that it would be a lie.

"It's complicated." Sakura admitted.

"Yeah I can see that and Naruto has no clue how you feel does he?"

"Well Naruto has always been a little dense when it came to that sort of thing. And it's not like I ever gave him any indication on how I felt."

Naruto had every right to move on with his life. It wasn't like he was supposed to sit around pining for her. She should have never waited so long to admit her feelings for him.

"So then you really have no one to blame for this but yourself." Temari stopped so that she could take a sip of her tea. She closed her eyes as she took an extra long sip.

"Yeah." Sakura reluctantly nodded. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"Doesn't it though. This whole situation is really stressing you out. Wouldn't it be better to just get your feelings out in the open instead of bottling them away?"

Sakura sighed and clenched her fists in her lap. Things were not that simple. As much as she wanted to go tell Naruto the truth she couldn't.

"Temari I can't. He's happy he's with Ino. They've been together for two years now. I can't just come in between them. It's not my place to do that."

"Look Sakura I'm not telling you to be a home wrecker. That's about the last thing that I would ever tell you to do. But are you absolutely sure that he loves her. Anyone could see that there was something between you two."

She had no answer for Temari. Sakura had never asked Naruto if he loved the blond haired kunoichi. There of course had to be some real feelings there. Why else would they have even be together this long?

"I don't know." She admitted. "I could never bring myself to ask. I don't think that I want to know either. Temari it's getting late and I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight." The older kunoichi told her.

Naruto found himself unable to stay awake any longer. A part of him had wanted to go check to see if Sakura was okay. How long were they going to be talking anyway? The main reason he didn't go back was because he knew that she could handle herself. No one was going to mess with her not with that super human strength she possessed. So the blond haired male simply fell asleep

* * *

_(Naruto's dream)_

_He tossed and turned in his bed trying to decide on a comfortable sleeping position. The young man finally decided to sleep on his back. There was a movement as someone climbed up on to his bed. Suddenly he felt some weight on top of him instantly blue eyes opened._

"_What? Ino-chan?" he held a confused expression in his voice._

_The beautiful blond sat up staring at her boyfriend. She smiled down at him running her fingers up and down his chest. Naruto stared at her wide eyed._

"_Hi Naruto-kun I missed you so much. You don't mind that I came to see you do you?" she _questioned.

"_No not at all Ino-chan. I missed you too."_

_She put his hands on to her waist smiling at him once more. Her facial expression soon became serious._

"_Really Naruto-kun are you sure that you missed me? Am I really the one that you're thinking about? You aren't thinking about other girls are you?"_

"_No." He shook his head. _

"_Good." She nodded she bent down lowering her mouth to his. She captured his lips in a soft passionate kiss. Naruto leaned forward deepening the kiss. Once he broke away from their kiss he opened his eyes to see the pink haired kunoichi instead._

"_Sakura-chan? What are you doing here? Where's Ino…" before he could finish she placed her finger to his lip immediately silencing him. He blinked._

"_Don't worry about her right now. Isn't this much better just you and me ne Naruto-kun?" She smiled._

_The blond male could not respond as she sent her lips crashing down on top of his."_

* * *

Naruto awoke hitting the floor hard.

"Damn." He muttered rubbing his head.

"Naruto are you okay? What are you doing on the floor?"

He looked up blue eyes meeting a pool of jade green.

"Sakura-chan did you just get in?"

"Yeah and then I heard the crash coming from in here."

Naruto picked himself up from the floor and sat on his bed.

"I was just having a dream when I fell out of bed."

"_Figures."_ She thought with a small smile. "Okay Naruto it looks like you're alright now. I'm going to go to bed."

"Okay goodnight Sakura-chan."

"Night." She called back to him and headed in the direction of her room. Naruto waited until he heard her door close before a sigh escaped him. He just knew that sleep would not be coming for him tonight.

* * *

**(Back at Konoha)**

Ino had just wrapped up another successful day with Ibiki and was now on her way home. She stopped when she saw Lee and TenTen holding hands as they sat together. Seeing the couple like this made her think about Naruto.

"Hi you guys." Ino waved.

"Hey Ino how's it going?" TenTen spoke first.

"Good afternoon Ino-chan how are you on this very youthful day."

"I'm doing good." She nodded.

"Hey Ino where's Naruto I usually see you two together."

"Naruto went on a mission. He's in Suna right now so he won't be back for awhile."

Lee suddenly wrapped his arms around TenTen pulling her closer to him.

"Don't worry Ino Naruto-kun will be back before we know it and burning with the flames of youth."

Ino simply shrugged her shoulders a sigh escaping her. There was no stopping Lee when he was on one of his spirited youth talks.

"Lee-kun." TenTen started and pulled his face to hers. "Shut up." She smiled pulling him into a kiss.

"Okay, okay I can take a hint. I'll be out of your way lovebirds." Ino teased.

"Just because your boyfriend is out on a mission that doesn't mean that I cant have fun with mine."

Ino stuck her tongue out at the brown haired kunoichi.

"Yeah whatever you say TenTen you two have fun don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Bye Ino."

Being near Lee and TenTen just now did have her thinking of Naruto. How could she not miss her boyfriend while other couples were spending time together? She missed her loveable blond idiot.

"_I wonder if he's thinking about me too. He'd better be if he knows what's good for him." _She thought with amusement.

The blond kunoichi soon found herself at Ichiraku's. She wasn't completely sure why she was here. It wasn't as if she was starving or anything.

"Hi Teuchi-san." She smiled.

"Oh hello Ino-chan I haven't seen you around in awhile. What will it be?"

"I'll have a bowl of pork ramen."

Before long a bowl of steaming hot ramen was placed in front of her.

"Come to think of it I haven't seen Naruto around either lately. Don't tell me that he's found somewhere else to eat." The old chef joked. Ino laughed.

"You know that would never happen Teuchi-san. He's on a mission right now in Suna. He might not be back for awhile."

Teuchi noticed that there was a hint of sadness in her voice.

"It's not quite the same without him around huh?"

"Nope its not. It's far too quiet and boring."

Teuchi laughed in amusement.

"You have a point there. So I guess you're having a bowl of ramen because you miss him."

"Yeah I guess you can say it's my way of honoring my ramen loving boyfriend." Once she was done she placed some money on the table. "Thank you Teuchi-san I should be going though. I'll see you around."

"Right goodbye Ino-chan take care okay. And next time I expect you to be with Naruto. I can't have my favorite couple eating elsewhere." He smiled.

"Hai I'm sure that you'll see us both soon."

Truthfully Ino couldn't completely shake this feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt that something terrible was going to happen. She wasn't quite sure how to put all of her thoughts and feelings into words. The only thing that she knew was that the bed feeling was going away. It was the main reason why she had given him her gold locket. In a way she had thought of it as her good luck charm. She hoped that it would keep him safe.

"Maybe I shouldn't be worrying like this. I'm sure that everything will be okay." She tried to remain optimistic. "I'm probably worrying for nothing."

That had to be it. The blond decided that she had to be worrying too much over nothing. It wasn't like Naruto was alone. He had a damn good group of people backing him up. Not only that but she saw first hand how good of a shinobi he was.

"He'll come back in one piece. He has to."


End file.
